Earlier this year, I made some Heart Shaped Crayons and posted a photo on Instagram. I had somebody ask if they were bath crayons and that got me thinking that I should try making some. I ended up making these more than once to try different soap and dye types. One of the best things is that since these are soap based, they will easily clean up off the walls and your child. Below are my findings.

DIY Bath Crayons

I used two different types of soap and two different types of dye. For both types of crayons I used some silicone molds that I have.

The Materials

Glycerin Heat & Pour: This soap was easy to liquify and mix in the color. It also hardens rather quickly so the “crayon” pieces were ready to use in about a half hour.

Ivory Soap: This soap needs to be grated in order to have the color mixed in. It took me probably a half hour to grate the entire bar. I realized after I finished that I could have used the grater on my Kitchenaid mixer and have it go a lot faster. This soap needs to be mixed with a bit of water in addition to the dye. I divided the shavings into a four bowls and added 1 Tablespoon of water plus the dye. I then pressed the shavings into a mold and let it dry for 1 week.

Liquid Food Coloring: I first used this with the glycerin soap but it didn’t give off much color when I tested out the crayons. It might work better if I put more dye into the mixture.

Gel Food Coloring: I used gel food coloring for a second batch of glycerin crayons and also with the ivory soap. This gave a lot better coloring than the liquid food coloring. This requires about 1-2 “toothpick dipping” amounts; (yes, I know that’s not too helpful). Pretty much just mix it in til it looks good, then add a bit more for good measure. This dye is very strong and I did dye my hands blue for a little bit, fortunately it came off with a bit of scrubbing.

The Results

The glycerin soap with gel food coloring is the easiest to make that worked. The liquid food coloring isn’t worth it. The ivory soap gave the best color; however, it had a lot longer of a drying time and is a bit crumbly. I could see them disintegrating quickly in the bath as well.

The glycerin did require a bit more force to get the color dark but adding more dye could help solve this. Overall, I would recommend glycerin + gel food coloring.

I’d love to hear if you try to make these and what sort of results you get!